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Frans Kaisiepo Airport (WABB/BIK) serves Biak, the largest island in the Biak Archipelago off the north coast of Papua, Indonesia, and sits on a site with deep World War II history as the former Mokmer Airfield. Today it is a joint-use civil and military field, sharing its single long runway with the Indonesian Air Force's Manuhua Air Force Base and a Naval Aviation air station, and offers a substantial 11,700 ft strip with ILS approach capability, an appealing destination for pilots exploring Papua's Pacific-facing coastline.
Frans Kaisiepo Airport, known by the ICAO code WABB and IATA code BIK, is the main airport serving Biak Island and its surrounding communities of Yendidori, Adoki, Mandon and Sabar in Papua Province, Indonesia. It lies close to Biak town and is named after Frans Kaisiepo, the fourth Governor of Papua and an Indonesian National Hero who was instrumental in the integration of Western New Guinea into Indonesia. The field is notable for its long wartime history as Mokmer Airfield and for its unusually generous runway length, a legacy of its former role handling wide-body international traffic and its continuing shared use with military aviation units.
The airport is located in Biak Numfor Regency, Papua Province, on Biak Island, roughly 3 km from Biak town centre, close to the coastline and the Japen Strait. The field is a joint civil-military aerodrome, sharing its runway and airspace with Manuhua Air Force Base, a Type A airbase of the Indonesian Air Force, and with a Class A Naval Air Station operated by Indonesian Naval Aviation. Air traffic in the vicinity is coordinated through Biak Approach.
The airport has a single physical runway, 11/29, 11,700 feet long with a hard surface and runway lighting. An ILS is available for runway 11.
Pilots should expect to work Biak Approach on 121.2 MHz, with ATIS broadcast on 126.5 MHz. Biak Information is available on 295.6 MHz, and the tower operates on 118.1 MHz. An ILS is provided for runway 11.
The airfield lies parallel to the coastline on the western side of Biak Island, near the village of Mokmer, with the sea and the Japen Strait forming a clear reference to the west and south. Biak town, roughly 3 km away, provides a further landmark for orientation when approaching from the east.
The airfield originated as Mokmer Airfield, built by Japanese forces in 1943 using romusha labour as part of a complex of three strategic airfields on Biak Island alongside Borokoe and Sorido. It began as a single coral runway some 2,000 m by 40 m, with taxiways and revetments to the north, capable of supporting single and twin-engine military aircraft. The site's strategic value drew Allied attention, culminating in the Battle of Biak, which began with landings on 27 May 1944; heavy Japanese resistance from a fortified cave network delayed capture of the airfield complex until American forces broke through on 22 June 1944, after which Mokmer Drome was developed into a major Allied logistics base. Following the return of Western New Guinea to Indonesian control, the field passed to Indonesian government administration and was renamed Frans Kaisiepo Airport in 1984 in honour of the Papuan National Hero. During the era of trans-Pacific services, the airport handled international flights including KLM routes to Amsterdam via Tokyo and Garuda Indonesia flights to Los Angeles via Honolulu, with Garuda operating McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft and even Boeing 747-400s capable of using the field; these services ended with the 1998 Asian financial crisis and have not resumed on a scheduled basis. The airport was also the site of a serious accident on 16 July 1957, when KLM Flight 844, a Lockheed L-1049E Super Constellation, crashed into Cenderawasih Bay shortly after takeoff, with only 10 of 68 occupants surviving.
Frans Kaisiepo Airport today handles regular domestic flights within Papua, including routes to Jayapura and Sorong, as well as services to Makassar in South Sulawesi, though it no longer supports scheduled international flights aside from occasional charters. The runway and airspace remain shared with military aviation: the Indonesian Air Force's 27th Air Squadron, operating CN-235 transport aircraft, has been based at Manuhua Air Force Base since 13 June 2019, and the Indonesian Navy's 800th Air Squadron operates CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft from the co-located Naval Air Station Biak.
